Bee Yard Wingmanby The Bee Guy

by The Bee Guy

Talk through your inspection. Your phone writes it down.

Bee Yard Wingman keeps your hive records all year: inspections, mite counts, queens, honey, dead-outs, and what's blooming near your hives. Keep your hands in the hive, not on your phone. It works out in the bee yard with no cell service.

Open the web app Get the Android app

Android 8 or later. A direct download, about 40 MB. It isn't in the Play Store.

On iPhone or iPad: open app.beeyardwingman.com in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. It opens like an app, even with no cell service. More on getting it

The app's Home screen: four apiaries, 28 hives, 728 pounds of honey and 204 logs, with the inspections coming up in the Home Yard.
Example screens, made-up yards.
The beekeeping year

One record, all the way round the year.

The bee yard runs on the calendar. What's blooming, when the flow comes, when the mites climb, when the colony is broodless. Bee Yard Wingman keeps the season in front of you and keeps the record as you go.

The year at a glance

NC Sandhills, normal spring, example yard

An illustration based on the app's NC Sandhills calendar, the one The Bee Guy has checked. The bee yard rows are from a made-up example yard. Other areas of the lower 48 states and Alaska get a draft calendar fitted to your apiary's own freeze dates, marked Draft until local beekeepers check it. Hawaii's calendar isn't ready yet.

In the NC Sandhills. Your calendar shows when these come where you are.

Jan to Feb

Late winter

In the yard
Heft the hives. Find out who made it.
Wingman keeps
Dead-outs with the cause and what you saw.
Mar to May

Spring flow

In the yard
First full inspections. Watch the queen and the brood.
Wingman keeps
Inspections by voice and queens.
Jun to Aug

Summer

In the yard
Pull the honey. Mites climb.
Wingman keeps
Honey by hive and the mite chart.
Sep to Nov

Fall flow

In the yard
Goldenrod, then asters. Winter stores and winter bees are made now.
Wingman keeps
The bloom countdown and winter prep.
Dec

Early winter

In the yard
Colonies are broodless or close to it. Time for oxalic.
Wingman keeps
Treatments, with the amount and method.
What it keeps

The records you keep all season.

Made by a beekeeper, for the bee yard. Say what you see, and Bee Yard Wingman fills in the rest. Everything can be done by tapping too.

Every visit, spring to fall

Talk through an inspection

Tap record and describe the hive the way you'd tell another beekeeper. The form fills itself in. You check it and save.

  • Pick how you talk: hands-free as you go, the phone asking each question, Tap to Record, or Just Record to keep your voice like a voice memo.
  • With Tap to Record or Just Record, your spoken notes are kept as a recording with the inspection. Hands-free isn't recorded.
  • A drawing of the hive's boxes, supers and brood boxes, that changes as you talk.
  • Every new inspection asks for the mite count and the queen before it saves, so the record is complete.
The Log Inspection sheet: a drawing of the hive's three boxes, then the Voice-to-Inspection choices: hands-free as you go, hands-free with the phone asking each question, Tap to Record, and Just Record.
Example screen, made-up yard.
Summer into winter

Mites and treatments

Every new inspection asks for a mite count, or "not checked". It keeps how you counted: a wash, a sugar roll or a sticky board. Each hive gets a chart of its mites over time, so you can see the climb before it gets away from you.

Log treatments with the amount, the method and a schedule that goes on your phone's calendar.

A hive's mite count over time, per 300 bees: low in March, climbing to a high of about 9 in August, then back down to 1 by October 3 after treatment.
Example screen, made-up yard.
Summer

Honey by hive and by apiary

Log a harvest by tapping, or just say "harvested 30 pounds from hive 4". Then see your honey by apiary and by hive, year by year. See which yard gave the most honey.

The Harvest tab for 2026: 728 pounds in all, with honey by apiary shown as bars, from Clover Hill Farm at 292 pounds down to Orchard Field at 117 pounds.
Example screen, made-up yards.
All year

Bloom and nectar flow for your area

See what's blooming now, when the nectar flows come, and the month's hive jobs. It's fitted to your apiary's own freeze dates, with reminders when key plants open.

The calendar began as The Bee Guy's own Sandhills Bloom & Nectar Flow Calendar. Since October 2026 it covers the lower 48 states and Alaska: the NC Sandhills calendar is checked, and other areas have a draft until local beekeepers look it over. Hawaii's calendar isn't ready yet.

The Bloom tab on October 14: fall flow, goldenrod then asters. In bloom now: goldenrod, asters, boneset and Spanish needles. A countdown shows the broodless window for oxalic treatment on December 10.
Example screen, NC Sandhills.
Spring, and whenever she fails

Queens, boxes and each hive's story

Track each hive's queen, her age and her mark colour. When you replace her, the app sets the follow-up checks for you. Queen rearers get a Queens tab with grafting timetables and reminders.

Each hive's page shows its boxes as they are now, where the colony came from, the splits made from it, and what's coming up.

A hive's page: a queen marked white, Queen Right, a drawing of one medium super over two brood boxes, the colony's history, and buttons to replace the queen or mark it as a dead-out.
Example screen, made-up yard.
Late winter

Dead-outs recorded properly

When a colony dies, say "the colony is dead" or tap Mark as dead-out. Pick the main cause, Unknown is fine, and tap what you saw. The hive's history is kept, and you can reuse its number for the next colony.

All season

Pests and threats

Record pests inside the hive by level, from none seen to high, and threats outside it, like the Yellow-Legged Hornet, bears and skunks.

Any time

On a computer too

The web app works on a computer, with a full-screen layout on a big screen. Records stay in that browser, so keep using the same one.

Hands-free

Keep your gloves on. The phone does the asking.

Put the phone in your pocket. There are two hands-free ways: talk as you go and it asks about anything you missed, or let it ask each question out loud, box by box from the top down.

  1. It asks. One question at a time, top box first.
  2. You answer out loud. The way you'd tell another beekeeper.
  3. It fills in the form. You check it and save.

Say what you need while you work:

  • skip
  • repeat
  • go back
  • pause
  • stop

It can walk the whole apiary with you, hive by hive. With Voice control on, you can run the app by voice and ask things like "How old is this queen?"

It talks back in the Bee Buddy Voice: The Bee Guy's own recorded voice, more than 1,500 clips built into the app. It speaks with no cell service.

You never have to use voice. Every question can be answered by tapping, and the app stays silent. On Android, Tap to Record needs Android 13 or later. Turning speech into text with no cell service needs Android 12 or later with Google speech services, and a one-time download. Just Record works on any Android 8 or later. On iPhone, iPad and computers, voice goes through the web browser. On a computer, Chrome can turn speech into text with no cell service. On iPhone and iPad, and in other computer browsers, it needs internet. Firefox can't turn speech into text.

Settings, the voice Bee Yard Wingman speaks with: Bee Buddy Voice (The Bee Guy) is picked, with a Try button. The Bee Guy's own voice, recorded into the app: it speaks with no cell service.
Example screen.
No cell service

Out at the hives with no bars.

Bee yards are rarely where the cell service is. Here's what works out there, and what waits until you're online.

Works with no cell service

  • Your hive records: inspections, mites, queens, honey, treatments
  • Voice to text, on Android 12 or later with Google speech services, once the speech download is done
  • Just Record, on any Android 8 or later
  • The Bee Buddy Voice
  • The bloom calendar and freeze dates
  • Help and the FAQ
  • The web app on iPhone, once it's on your Home Screen

Needs internet at that moment

  • Weather filling in by itself, from the apiary's zip code or saved spot
  • The "Photos in flower" links for plants
  • The map of what's in flying range of a yard
  • Automatic spring timing on the bloom calendar
  • The one-time speech download. Do it at home first.
  • Voice to text on iPhone and iPad, and in computer browsers other than Chrome
Privacy, in plain words

Your hives are your business.

No account needed. The full details are on the privacy page.

  • Your records are kept on your phone.On the web app, they stay inside that browser. Save a backup now and then so a lost phone doesn't take them with it.
  • Your hive locations aren't shown to other beekeepers.Club members and club leaders never see them. A spot only leaves the app when you choose: directions you send, or an apiary's exact spot in the research file if you pick that.
  • Weather goes by zip code or a saved spot.Give an apiary its zip code, or save its spot, and the weather fills in. The app asks a weather service using that zip code or spot.
  • The research file is off until you turn it on.It never holds your name, hive names, addresses, notes, photos or recordings. You make the file and choose who gets it.
Get it

Three ways in.

Same app, three ways to open it. Your records stay on the device you use, so pick one and keep using it.

Any phone or computer

The web app

  1. Open app.beeyardwingman.com.
  2. Start with your first apiary.

On a computer it uses a full-screen layout.

Open the web app
Android 8 or later

The Android app

  1. Open the download link on the phone and tap the downloaded file.
  2. When Android asks, turn on Install unknown apps for that browser, then tap Install.
  3. If Play Protect says it doesn't recognise the app, tap More details, then Install anyway.

The link never changes. Updating keeps all your records.

Get the Android app
iPhone and iPad

Add it to your Home Screen

  1. Open app.beeyardwingman.com in Safari.
  2. Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
  3. Open it from the Home Screen. It works like an app, with the microphone and camera, even with no cell service.

Records stay on that iPhone. Clearing Safari's website data can erase them, so keep a backup.

Questions

What people ask.

More answers are in Help inside the app, and they work with no cell service.

Do I need an account?

No. Without one, Bee Yard Wingman works fully and your phone holds your records.

Can I use it on an iPhone or iPad?

Yes, through the web link: app.beeyardwingman.com. Open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, and it opens like an app, even with no cell service.

My phone says "Harmful app blocked".

That's Google Play Protect being careful with apps that don't come from the Play Store. Bee Yard Wingman is safe: it's The Bee Guy's own app, signed with his own key. Tap Install anyway (the grey words above the blue Got it button).

Do I have to use voice?

No. Every question and every box can be answered by tapping, and the app stays silent. Voice is there for gloves and a bee suit, if you want it.

Does it work with no cell service?

Yes. On phones that can (Android 12 or later, after a one-time download), speech is turned into text on the phone itself, and the Bee Buddy Voice is built into the app. On older phones, or with no cell service, use Just Record: it saves your voice like a voice memo to play back later.

Where are my records kept?

On your phone (on the web link: inside that browser). Save a backup now and then so a lost or broken phone doesn't take them with it.

How do I move my records to a new phone?

On the old phone: Settings, then Save a backup, and send the file to yourself. Install Bee Yard Wingman on the new phone. On the new phone: Settings, then Restore a backup, and pick the file. It always asks before replacing anything.

Will updating erase my records?

No. Updating keeps everything. Only uninstalling erases your records.

What should I do when a colony dies?

Record it. Say or type "the colony is dead", or use the hive's Mark as dead-out. Pick the main cause (Unknown is fine) and tap what you saw: dead bees, bees head-first in cells, honey and brood left, white specks of mite droppings.

How do I get help?

Email [email protected] with your version and phone (Settings, then App version, then Copy for tech support), what you did and what happened, and a screenshot if something on the screen looks wrong. Never uninstall Bee Yard Wingman while waiting for help; that erases your records.